To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
ADAMS, Mr Paul Hunter, CNZM
For services to philanthropy and the community
Mr Paul Adams was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2015 for his services to business and philanthropy, and since then has continued to hold a range of patronages, trusteeships and leadership positions for a variety of charitable and community organisations.
Mr Adams is the Patron of IHC Bay of Plenty and Te Tuinga Whanau Support Trust. In 2015 he became Patron of Waipuna Hospice, Tauranga, following 12 years as a Trustee. As Chairman of Accessible Properties, IHC's social housing arm, he has overseen a broadening of focus to cater for people who qualify for the Governments income related rent subsidy programme. Under his stewardship Accessible Properties owns and manages New Zealand's largest non-governmental social housing portfolio with around 3,000 homes across the country. He is currently involved in a joint venture with Ngati Toa Rangatira to develop around 1,000 affordable homes. He is a Director of Kordia, a State Owned Telecommunications Company, and as a Council Member of University of Waikato has been directly involved in bringing a new University Campus to Tauranga. As a founding Director he donated a significant sum to the University for the Development of the Adams High Performance Sports Centre in Tauranga, now home to New Zealand Rugby Sevens. He was a Board member of the Correspondence School Te Kura for four years. Mr Adams has provided philanthropic support to a range of sports, arts and community events around the North Island.
HONOURS
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 2015
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HALL, Mr Roger Leighton, CNZM, QSO
For services to theatre
Mr Roger Hall is a leading playwright with a strong international profile who has played a key role in the development of New Zealand drama.
Mr Hall was founder and co-organiser of the inaugural New Zealand Theatre Month, launched in September 2018. He has served on numerous boards, including Fortune Theatre, Frank Sargeson Trust, New Zealand Literary Fund Advisory Committee, and Governor of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand from 2002 to 2010. As well as plays, he has written extensively for television including one-off plays and more than seventy sitcom episodes in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom. His first stage plays, ‘Glide Time’ and ‘Middle Age Spread’, written in the 1970s, were successful nationally and in Australia and ‘Middle Age Spread’ ran in London’s West End for fifteen months. Since that time he has written a stage play or musical every year, all of which have been performed by the country’s professional theatres, as well as numerous productions by community theatres. His pantomime scripts were performed at Wellington’s Circa Theatre each Christmas for ten years. He established the annual performance of a scene from the Bruce Mason play ‘The End of the Golden Weather’ on Takapuna Beach each Christmas Day. Mr Hall has written many books for children and organized the first New Zealand Writers’ Week in Dunedin in 1989, an event which still continues.
HONOURS
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2003
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order, New Year 1987
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
LOWE, Mr Graham Michael, ONZM, QSM
For services to youth and education
Mr Graham Lowe was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2013 for his services to the community, following his rugby league coaching career in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Mr Lowe founded the charity The Lowie Foundation, which initially partnered with the New Zealand Institute of Sport, and now operates through The Lowie Foundation Ltd and Lowie Institute Ltd to deliver a programme for teenagers struggling with school or looking for a vocational pathway to employment. The Graham Lowe Certificate in Foundation Skills Level 2 programme, also known as ‘Kick for the Seagulls’ has a strong focus on literacy and numeracy, using the language of sport as a hook to engage students back into education and improve their academic achievement. As part of the Youth Guarantee Scheme, it is delivered free to 16 to 19 year olds. The programme is based around the 12 Principles for Success, common-sense philosophies which Mr Lowe has developed throughout his own career. A pilot course was run in Kaitaia in 2014 and a 21-week course was trialled with NorthTec at Ngawha Prison in 2015. To date more than 200 young men at Ngawha and other sites have graduated the course with a Level 2 Certificate in Foundation Studies. The Lowie Foundation received the 2018 Corrections Partnership Award. Mr Lowe has delivered seminars to youth in various centres around New Zealand.
HONOURS
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 2013
Queen's Service Medal, New Year 1986